Category: Faculty

Kim Updegraff – Parent-child communication is vital in preventing pre-adolescent health risk behaviors such as substance use and sex, yet little is known about these dynamics in Hispanic families.

Kristine Marceau – Adolescents exposed to traumatic events, including physical and sexual abuse, are at higher risk of developing problematic substance use behaviours. This study investigates associations between traumatic experiences and trajectories of substance use in adolescence and young adulthood, focusing in particular on differences in neuroendocrine and subjective stress reactivity as potential explanatory mechanisms.

Chris Agnew – Some people are single despite desiring a committed romantic relationship. Past research has revealed relationship maintenance strategies—thoughts and behaviors that couple members enact to fuel overall relationship satisfaction and commitment—associated with relationship stability.

Leigha MacNeill – The scope of the pediatric mental health crisis in the United States, coupled with clinical manifestations prior to school age, necessitates a systematic approach to early detection of mental health problems in public health settings.

Maria Marshall – Food safety concerns associated with fresh produce have gained prominence due to recurring foodborne outbreaks and recalls. However, consumer awareness and perceptions regarding food safety in small and medium-sized farm (SMF) operations remain
underexplored.

Review the slides: At the second CFF Fellowship Lecture, Libby Richards explored the role family dynamics play in disease management.

Oliver Wendt, CFF Kontos Faculty Scholar, has been elected a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) — one of the highest honors awarded by the association. The distinction recognizes Oliver’s significant contributions to the field of communication sciences and disorders through research, teaching, and professional leadership.

Annabelle Atkin – A common racial stressor for Multiracial people is racial identity invalidation: the experience of having one’s racial identity denied by others. This preregistered, exploratory study investigated Biracial people’s experiences of identity invalidation within a family setting.

Sooyeon Jeong – As social robots get more deeply integrated intoour everyday lives, they will be expected to engage in meaningful conversations and exhibit socio-emotionally intelligent listening behaviors when interacting with people. Active listening and backchanneling could be one way to enhance robots’ communicative capabilities and enhance their effectiveness in eliciting deeper self-disclosure, providing a sense of empathy,and forming positive rapport and relationships

Jorge Banda – Can a customized computer-driven 12-month short message service (SMS) counseling platform increase weekly walking minutes among adults to levels comparable with those receiving telephone counseling from a trained human advisor?